Friday 28 March 2014

So Much Nature Part 1 - 27/03/2014

Sunset over Loch Fyne
As regular readers may know, Laura runs her own animal education business (Animal Magic). On a recent stint at the Caithness International Science Festival, a small boy approached Laura's stand and was amazed by the range of animals.So overwhelmed he declared, "So much nature!" When diving we have a range of catchphrases and it seems this has now been added to our lexicon.

This week I was fortunate enough to be able to take a half day off work on a day when Laura wasn't working, so we decided to head over the Rest and Be Thankful mountain pass and dive in Loch Fyne for the first of our two dives. Our chosen destination was St Catherines 2 (known locally as St Cats or Seal Reef). It's a nice site with relatively easy access and a great view across the Loch to the historic village of Inveraray.

On arrival the sea was particularly choppy, but we could see that it was calming and the weather improving, so before diving we decided to meander down the beach to explore the entry point of a lesser dived site that had long been blocked off to divers. Our investigations suggested there was now room for one or two cars. So we'll explore that site soon.

Once back at the car we leisurely kitted up in broad daylight and entered the ever calming water.After messing about with Laura taking a few Ed-esque pictures of me we headed down to around 23m encountering a nice big Conger who was reluctant to come out for a photograph and slowly worked our way up the reef. I never took many pictures, but it was a great dive with loads of colourful fish, crab types, and echinoderms. Just over 40 minutes later we exited to the sun beginning to set gloriously on the other side of the loch.

What next? We each had another tank, as we switched tanks we took the decision to head over to Loch Long and drive part way home rather than do a formal surface interval. Good thing too as a Evolution Divers (a local Sub Aqua Association dive club) turned up en masse. I should say, they are nice guys but it's better to have the loch to yourself.


Kitting Up

Going in

Sea Toad and Urchin



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